Communication Skills of Effective Managers
Communication Skills of Effective Managers
Who is an effective manager? An effective manager is a person who can organize, lead and control people, so they perform their task well and in a timely manner. Effective managers are those who do not create a new vision and mission for the unit, but help the lower managerial level to succeed in their task fulfillment (Baldoni, 2003). Who is an effective leader? It is the manager with the ability to clearly state a vision and mission of the business unit (as well as country) and psychologically inspire people to do actions for the goal achievement. Therefore, an effective leader is an “effective manager plus” (Hargie, Dickson, Tourish, 2004).
The relevant issue taken from the news for the past two years is the Russian president’s Vladimir Putin effective leadership and managerial skills applied during the intense political games between Russia, Europe and the USA starting in 2014 with events in Ukraine. The above mentioned skills will be thoroughly analyzed in five dimensions: expressive speaking, empathetic listening, persuasive leadership, sensitivity to feelings and informative management. First of all, however, it is important to pay attention to Putin’s personality and his way to the presidential position in the year of 2000.
Vladimir Putin was born in 1952 in Saint Petersburg (former Leningrad) and graduated from the city’s state university with a degree in law. At the age of 23 he started his career as an intelligence officer in KGB (Committee on Federal Security) and step-by-step grew to the position of Russia’s Prime Minister in 1999 and, finally, president. Although Putin was not always in a position of a president in the twenty first century (there was Dmitry Medvedev in 2008-2012 years), it can be reasonable to assume that it was he, who mostly influenced Russian and world history at that time.
Vladimir Putin is a truly self-made leader. His childhood was in a poor working environment and such an experience somehow developed inner strength in the future president, as well as an ability to be empathetic and sensitive to other people’s feelings. KGB trainings made him mentally and physically powerful plus gave him excellent self-control skills which are still noticeable when he speaks in front of the Western European political figures (Maniei, 2016).
As it has been mentioned, the last two years brought about changes in the world powers proportion and borders of neighboring countries. Crimea became the Russian property again; however, this fact is still not recognized by the EU and the USA. Russia’s influence abroad significantly grows, and it is a must to say that these events would not happen without Putin’s direct influence.
The world mass media, as always, provides totally different views on the situation. For this essay 3 news webpages are considered to analyze communication skills of Vladimir Putin, successful manager and, moreover, leader of the Russian Federation.
In three of the sources, it is unanimously stated that the USA in particular needs such a leader as Vladimir Putin. In the first web-based journal SPUTNIK it is stated that leadership skills of Putin are alike with the American prior presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Nobody would ever say that the last ones’ period of power was unsuccessful for the country. During the period of Putin’s reign the wages have doubled, the unemployment rate reduced and the industrial output has increased by 125% (A Leader of the Same Caliber, 2016).
The same spirit of reign belongs to the best-known American president Abraham Lincoln, who in the 1800s motivated the country to fight for freedom of the colored population.
At the same time Putin’s methods of reining the country remind of Roosevelt’s style. At the beginning of the 1930s the latter took over the country in a state of economic disaster. Roosevelt mobilized the government sector and helped the country to decrease the unemployment rate by heavily taxing the wealthiest people of the nation.
Putin nowadays is also leading the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, the country that asked for the Russian help itself. Therefore, the leader’s actions cannot be called intervention (as the Western media blames).
Like the mentioned American presidents, Putin is heavily attacked with words by the western powers and at the same time highly praised by his own country. It is a must-say to also mention that sometimes world politicians agree on the fact that Putin’s leadership skills outshine Obama’s (Putin’s leadership qualities, 2016) due to the actions-orientated policy of the first one.
Why is Putin always being talked about? The answer most likely lies in his effective communication techniques that help him to win the hearts of his own nation.
Firstly, the Russian president is well-known for his expressive speaking. The word “expressive” doesn’t necessarily mean long and emotional speeches with a smile on his face. On the contrary, Putin is a good example of a machismo style: being confident, answering for his words and, of course, using logics to outperform the rivals. Along with that he managed to organize the Russian mass-media in such a way that he is the most important figure on the TV and is shown as often as possible in the news proclaiming that Russia is getting economically stronger and stronger. When Putin speaks (especially on solemn occasions of the country, e.g., 9th May-victory day), the whole country listens to him with respect and dignity, since he knows how to logically build sentences and add a grain of emotions to touch people’s hearts and make them feel united.
Information management in general is something of what Putin is undoubtedly strong, since all the most important channels on the Russian TV are in his direct or indirect control with very small chances of opposition to get in.
Putin is also an empathetic listener who meeting citizens pays careful attention to what they say and makes them sure that the problem is going to be fixed.
Persuasive leadership is a technique that the president uses when he yearly talks to the Federal Assembly in autumn stating what has been done to improve Russia’s position on the world arena and the situation inside the country. The technique was often used in 2014 during the period of Crimea annexation, when Putin was influencing the minds of the citizens by mass media portraying the necessity of such a move. Soon enough more than half of the population was made to believe that the action is, indeed, for a glory of Russia.
Whenever Putin talks, he always shows sensitivity to the feelings of the meeting partners. That can be observed when he holds speeches before the European institutions and with all his body language shows that he understands the reasons behind their logic, however, stays on his own opinion till the end. That used to be often observed during the last 2 years when he was holding speeches concerning the situation in Ukraine.
All in all, the disputes concerning Vladimir Putin’s personality and actions will last long enough for centuries, in my view. He is stated to be aggressive, autocratic, despotic and disrespectful of the laws. That view is substantiated by a huge proportion of the western world, however, one should not forget that he always achieves his goals and, moreover, is able to motivate others to pursue his dreams (Trump: Putin Has Better Leadership Qualities, 2016). If that is not successful management and leadership in the end, then what is?
References
Baldoni, J. (2003). Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders. McGraw-Hill Trade.
Hargie, O., Dickson, D. and Tourish, D. (2004). Communication Skills for Effective Management. London: Palgrave.
Maniei, A. (2016, August 9). Leadership Analysis of Vladimir Putin. Academia. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/23088968/Leadership_analysis_of_Vladimir_Putin
A Leader of the Same Caliber as Putin Desperately Needed in US-US Analyst (2016, August 10). Retrieved from http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151017/1028680362/us-needs-new-leader-putin-russia.html
Brown, E. (2016, August 9). Trump: Putin Has Better Leadership Qualities than President Obama. Fox news radio. Retrieved from http://radio.foxnews.com/2016/07/27/trump-putin-has-better-leadership-qualities-than-president-obama/
Putin’s leadership qualities outshine Obama’s (2016, August 10). Retrieved from http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2014/09/02/Putin-s-leadership-qualities-outshine-Obama-s.html
